A beautiful autumn day in the Ceiriog valley brought a record number of entrants, from all over the country, to the 3rd ‘Ceiriog Canter’ fell run on 15th October 2011. Having over come initial organisational difficulties that had hampered previous years, the 2011 event ran very smoothly indeed, with everyone running the same route! Nigel and Andrea Rowlands of the Clwydian Range Runners and Eryri Harriers described the route as, “a tough and challenging course with plenty of marshals to keep us all on track!”

A new course record was set by Jon Bowie of Trefonen, Oswestry, and a member of the Trismart club. He completed the run in a very impressive 46.44m! This was approximately 2.30m ahead of second place runner Sam Roberts, who was the category winner for the under 23 males. Andrea Rowlands also established a new course record for the women, completing the course in a challenging 52.47m. For a full list of results and photographs for the 2011 ‘Ceiriog Canter’ go to www.canolfanceiriog.org

The scenic 10.7 km fell run started at the Canolfan Ceiriog Centre which is in Glyn Ceiriog, near Llangollen. The route climbed up from the village onto the moors, taking in spectacular views from the top of Y Foel (358 meters, over 1100 feet above the village). Due to a dry summer the majority of the fell was hard under foot which made for excellent running conditions. The course returned to the village, via a steep forest track, where a warm welcome awaited each runner as they triumphantly crossed the line. Other than a few reports of gorse prickles, there was only one individual injured, Naithan Keeping from Birmingham, and even he managed to walk gallantly back to the finish! Beverages and homemade cake were on sale at the centre to replace spent energy!

The event was wholly reliant upon the generosity and hard work of the sponsors and marshals respectively, to whom we owe a great deal of thanks. We worked together as an excellent team to develop an event that was both slick and enjoyable! As a result, we are looking forward to next years ‘Ceiriog Canter’, when we also hope to run a juniors event, making it a great family day out in a stunning valley, so look out for next years date for your diary!